Tartine in a Thunderstorm

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After two weeks of holiday magic here in the French Alps, my hubby (aka tech support) has arrived to join the girls and I.  Of course we are happy to have him join us but I am also pleased that with his help I can finally post here on my blog and share some of the adventures with you.

After two weeks of sunshine, we had an evening thunderstorm that made our dinner on the deck extra memorable.  The girls were already excited as they knew it was Sunday and time for a fantastic weekly dinner tradition that our French family is sharing with us.  They have TARTINE for dinner that night so noone has to cook.  Dimitri‘s uncle remembers that weekly dinner as a chance for his mother to have a well deserved night off from cooking (she had 9 kids!).

Tartine means “to spread”, as in spread on bread.  It usually involves baguette topped with butter, jam or cheese and there are always large bowls of tea or hot chocolate to dip your tartine in or to wash it down with.  You can imagine that the kids are definitely big fans of this simple meal.

This week our Tartine Dinner included my man (and some whole grain bread imported from our bakery), some homemade blackberry jam from another French uncle’s 70th birthday fete, another jam fresh off the stove (plum and lavendar!), four kinds of local cheese, tomatoes fresh from our hosts’ garden, and an incredible lightning show.  The rain was coming down so hard at one point that we were taught a new French saying: “Il pleut comme une vache qui pisse!”….after reciting this useful phrase Raena decided it was more like 25 cows!  Indeed!  Alex was thrilled with each flash of lightning (see her pointing with delight?) and they were both very amazed with the intensity of the storm (and only a little nervous).  We don’t get storms OR dinners like this back home – what a treat!

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Perhaps this Tartine tradition is a souvenir we can bring home to Canada with us!